(NEW YORK) – January 15, 2018 – Tune in to TV One TONIGHT at 9/8c for the 49th NAACP Image Awards as Grammy-nominated recording artist Andra Day performs “Strange Fruit” in support of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Lynching In America movement.

Last year, EJI collaborated with Google to bring their groundbreaking research on the history and legacy of lynching in America online for millions to access. To vocalize support, Andra recorded “Strange Fruit,” the 1939 Billie Holiday classic, to provide awareness of EJI’s work.

The goal of Lynching in America, which brings EJI’s multi-year investigation into more than 4,000 reported racial terror lynchings that took place in the United States during the period between Reconstruction and World War II to life, is to spark a national conversation about the connection between America’s painful history of racial violence and the forms of injustice that exist today, including racially-biased capital punishment, excessive sentencing, disproportionate sentencing of racial minorities, and police abuse of people of color.

As part of Google’s focus on Inclusion, the company has given more than $2MM in grants to the Equal Justice Initiative. Additionally, EJI is opening the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in April in Montgomery, AL to commemorate the victims of lynching. Please visit eji.org to learn more.

ABOUT THE EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE

Equal Justice Initiative (http://www.eji.org/) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system. Headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, Equal Justice Initiative litigates on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, people wrongly convicted or charged with violent crimes, poor people denied effective representation, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct. The organization works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment, and also prepares reports, newsletters, and manuals to assist advocates and policymakers in the critically important work of reforming the administration of criminal justice

ABOUT GOOGLE’S RACIAL JUSTICE WORK

As an information company, Google believes in the power of knowledge and information to bridge gaps in understanding and foster inclusion. Recently, Googlers have spearheaded projects like the digitization of African American history with the NMAAHC. The Equal Justice initiative is a cornerstone grantee in Google.org’s $20MM Inclusion portfolio, an investment in innovators who are using data and technology to advance justice for all. For the past year, volunteers from Google have also been working closely with EJI to digitize the data and tell the stories of this lesser-known period in history. As a proud sponsor of the Global Citizen Festival, Google is excited to work with Andra Day and EJI to bring this message to a broader audience.

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